Gary Friedman discusses the five ways to succeed with your interior design

Gary Friedmanowner of Restoration Hardware loves all things relating to interior design. It takes experience and a good eye to work out how to put a room together without making it too cluttered or too samey. You also have to get the balance right between it being a functional room and also one that looks good and catches the eye. Don’t be afraid to add character either, whether you like quirky things or even want to display something that relates to your heritage, hobbies or likes then do it.

So what top tips can you play by to ensure that you get it right?

Firstly, you will need to decide on the mood for the room; do you want it to be relaxing, funky, busy. From there you can decide on the colors, light pastels and greys are very relaxing. Reds and purples are very chaotic and busy, so you wouldn’t want too much of this. You then need to stick to your plan for all elements of the room to ensure that it isn’t too eclectic and just looks like a crazy mixture, though some people can pull that off quite well.

You also need to ensure that you are going to be able to carry out the function of that room after your make over. There is no point having a living room with no living space and so on. The focal point of the room should relate to the purpose of the room. The room should invite you to do what it is made for, so a bed should be inviting and cosy in a bedroom, a kitchen should make you feel like cooking using all the fabulous utensils and so on.

As stated don’t be afraid to add your character or personality with it, have some fun with aspects of your décor and make them personal to you. Pictures, photographs, cushions and ornaments are great for this purpose; as are feature walls or odd things that look out of place but which actually fit as an oddity that you notice and enjoy.

You need the room to be uniform in some way or it will look haphazard unless that really is the effect you are going for. Some repetition is good to give the space a consistent and comfortable feel so that you can actually relax in it, which you wouldn’t do in a dark and busy room. Replication not only in the one room but one element carried around the whole home is the way that some people prefer to interior design and this can be very striking and effective. You can even tie in the decor of the kids rooms and bathrooms.

But as we have made clear throughout this article don’t forget the contrast and the eye-catching pieces. These will be the focal points for your house and the things that people will laugh and joke about. The funny pictures, the oh remember when’s. These elements will entice people to warm to your home and use it for ideas for theirs.

So remember calm, contrast and repeat and you just about have it in a nutshell.